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<\/a>My six year old was acting a fool and I was uncomfortable.\u00a0 Earlier that day, my husband received a text from his boss, the associate pastor of a Spanish speaking church, asking him if we would be at service that night. Fairly new to this job and a little insecure that we don\u2019t speak the heart language of so many in the congregation at Lion of Judah,\u00a0 my husband pulled me aside during nap time and asked if I thought we should go.\u00a0 Our family was young then.\u00a0 Our oldest was six, and \u201cthe babies\u201d were 3 and 2 and our lives revolved around them- their schedules, their moods, their needs.\u00a0 Every decision to leave the house was a cost\/benefit analysis- time with friends vs. lack of sleep or sanity.<\/p>\n\u201cBabes,\u201d I whispered, \u201cThe only service that we can go to is the Spanish service- the English one runs into their dinner and if they miss dinner, it\u2019ll take forever to get them all down for bed!\u201d<\/p>\n
Stroking the tuft of beard on his chin he replied, \u201cWell, I know Pastor Greg interprets in English during the Spanish service. It\u2019s a bit harder to follow than the English service- disjointed- but I think it\u2019ll be good.\u00a0 You need to meet the pastors I work with and the kids can experience a Spanish worship service.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was dubious because, like my kids, I\u2019m resistant to discomfort.\u00a0 I was happy when he got the job directing an inner city mentoring program for the church, but I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d actually have to bump up against the reality that he spends 40+ hours a week in a Latino community, pressing against language barriers, and acutely aware of his \u201cdifference\u201d.\u00a0 I knew the worship would be lively and fun, but I also knew it would seem lacking to me because I<\/em> couldn\u2019t sing my<\/em> favorite songs in English.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter if there were translations on the screen, I just wanted an easy church experience.<\/p>\n Santo, santo, santo Dios Todopoderoso\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The worship team lead us in \u201cRevelation Song\u201d in their heart language and I tried so hard to enter in to the worship, but with a toddler on my hip and a cranky six year old with an adorable scowl on his face, and an inability to truly sing along, I couldn\u2019t help but think, \u2018This is a waste of time.\u2019<\/p>\n pat, pat, pat\u00a0<\/em> the six-year-old was assaulting my leg, \u201cMama, Mama, Ma-ma!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?!?\u201d\u00a0 I hissed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t they sing in English?\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be here! I can\u2019t understand a thing they\u2019re saying?\u201d\u00a0 He whined, a bit too loud- but thank you, Lord,\u00a0 the Latina worship leader was proclaiming the truth of God with fervor- and volume!<\/p>\n I paused for a moment, passed the toddler to my husband, and sat down next to him. \u201cWell, talk about it when we get home.\u201d<\/p>\n Staring in my son\u2019s hazel eyes, I saw the potential of the moment. It was as if the Holy Spirit showed me a picture of myself.\u00a0 To Him, I\u2019m that cranky child standing in the midst of His worshipers with an adorable scowl on my face and insensitive questions on my lips.\u00a0 I saw how I could change the story for both of us, from consumers to contributors, from cranky to cheerful,\u00a0 from comfortable to cross- shaped, self-giving love.<\/strong>\u00a0 I had to opportunity to share a bedrock value of this Christian walk we\u2019re on- we\u2019re here to proclaim that Jesus loves all people<\/strong>, so much so, he became human in order to experience our reality- to embody our vulnerabilities, learn our language, uphold our customs. Then in his greatest act of love, he subjected himself to the violence of this world so that every person can find their healing in him.<\/p>\n I sat through the service and struggled.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember a single point from the message, but I remember the Holy Spirit\u2019s call die to my comfort for the comfort of others.<\/p>\n The next day, on our walk home from school, my son brought up the Spanish service again. \u201cMama- we don\u2019t have to go to that church again, right?\u00a0 I don\u2019t understand why they just can\u2019t learn English and sing in it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, they love Jesus,\u201d I started with a lump in my throat and a choice before me, \u201cand they want to tell him in a language that\u2019s easy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut why did we <\/em>have to sing in Spanish at their church?\u00a0 Why can\u2019t we just sing in English at our church?\u201d\u00a0 He pleaded.<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026we love Jesus too, so they invited us to their church and the best way we could be loving to them and to Jesus was to sing in Spanish.\u00a0 Jesus died for everyone, everywhere and he loves it when we celebrate that in our own languages.\u00a0 He loves it even more when we celebrate together.\u00a0 So, that\u2019s what we did.\u00a0 We celebrated Jesus with our new Spanish speaking friends, together- just like he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n In the six years since that walk with my son, we\u2019ve attended that Spanish service a few more times, worshiped in Creole at our friends\u2019 house around the table, and sang Christmas carols in Korean.\u00a0 When we planted New City Church in Boston, we explained to the kids that we wanted a church that looks like<\/em> heaven so that we can be heaven <\/em>on earth- multi-ethnic and unified and, for the most part, the kids have been alright.<\/strong><\/p>\n